


I Want to Know Wonder

by kakashisimp7



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: 5+1 Things, Background Kuroken - Freeform, High School, M/M, Nekoma, University, including a gamer cat bf, komori brainrot continues, komori deserves everything okay?, lowkey pining kuroo, rarepair from hell
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-31
Updated: 2020-07-31
Packaged: 2021-03-05 19:54:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,459
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25620922
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kakashisimp7/pseuds/kakashisimp7
Summary: 5 times that Kozume Kenma could only stare at Komori Motoya, and the 1 time he didn’t.
Relationships: Komori Motoya/Kozume Kenma
Comments: 13
Kudos: 34
Collections: Kenma Ship Week 2020





	I Want to Know Wonder

Kozume Kenma is a first year at Nekoma High School the first time he meets Komori Motoya. After a slim victory against Shinzen High during Spring High Preliminaries, Nekoma has to play Itachiyama High School, known for two things: their budding star wing spiker Sakusa Kiyoomi, and their tenacious, yet lively, libero Komori Motoya. The duo are first years who came from the same middle school and are supposedly cousins, although Kenma doesn’t see the resemblance. 

As usual, Kenma doesn’t start this game, so he has lots of time to watch Itachiyama from the sidelines. Sakusa’s presence is electrifying and lights up the crowd. They cheer excitedly every time he drives a ball into Neko’s court, but Kenma can’t help noticing Komori is doing most of the hard work. It’s Komori who cleanly digs every ball that Yamamoto spikes, and he narrowly manages to receive the balls Kuroo blocks and sends back into Itachiyama’s court. It probably pisses off Kuroo for the other team to have a libero as equally gritty and talented as Yaku.

Komori is tall and lanky, the opposite of Yaku, but Kenma recognizes the same ferocity in his eyes Yaku has when they play powerhouse schools. It’s intimidating and a bit strange to Kenma. 

It also makes his heart beat just a little bit faster. 

Itachiyama wins the game with little effort: 25-19 and 25-21. Kenma allows Kuroo to bitch about how unfair the world is on the bus ride back to school, but as he listens to Kuroo gripe ( _“Who gets pitted against Itachiyama in round two? They’re the favorites to win the entire preliminaries!”_ ) he’s secretly happy that the third years who are so cruel to him don’t get to play any more. 

He’s still thinking about the game on the walk home from school. He thinks about the way Komori looked when he dived to dig a ball that looked impossible to receive. He considers insecticide for the butterflies fluttering in his stomach. 

* * *

Kozume Kenma is still a first year at Nekoma High School the second time that he meets Komori Motoya. With the third years retired and Kuroo taking over as captain (unofficially now, officially next year), Kenma is finally off the bench and playing in games. It theoretically would’ve been nice to play in some slightly lower-stakes games before the nationals qualifier tournament, but Kenma ultimately reasons that all games are pretty low-stakes if you aren’t invested in the outcome and decides against dwelling on it. 

Nekoma is getting ready to start warm-ups when Kenma realizes he has to use the bathroom. “I’ll be right back, Kuro,” he calls over his shoulder as he starts speed walking to the bathroom. 

He reaches to push open the door to the bathroom when it opens from the inside at the exact same time, causing Kenma to recoil a bit, only to come abruptly face to face with none other than Komori Motoya, who’s furiously shaking his hands back and forth. They’re so close together that a few water drops fly onto Kenma’s face from Komori’s hands, but he’s too horrified by their close proximity to each other to even realize what just happened.

“Oh Jesus, did that get on you?” Komori asks sheepishly. “Damn it, I should’ve just dried my hands off with a paper towel like a normal person...but then Sakusa might’ve been weird about me touching him...he’s always like _you don’t know where the paper towels have been, what if they’re dirty_ , even though I always ask him why would the paper towels be dirty…” Kenma is processing absolutely nothing that is coming out of Komori’s mouth right now. “Anyways, I’m Komori Motoya,” Komori finishes. Why did he introduce himself at the _end_ of all that?

Kenma stares at him blankly. He’s not usually speechless, but he’s currently too busy trying to redirect the red flush on his face to literally anywhere else on his body to think of anything to say.

“....bathroom, sorry,” he manages to spit out, looking at the ground. Komori, who looks somehow unfazed, quickly moves to the side. “Right, my bad.” They move past each other and Kenma slams the bathroom door shut behind him. He’s acutely aware that his face is so red it feels like it’s sunburned. Luckily his hair is long enough to partially obscure his vision, so he doesn’t have to see his reflection in the bathroom mirror. 

The interaction replays in Kenma’s head over and over as he washes and dries off his hands. Komori’s large yet welcoming presence ( _damn he’s tall for a libero_ ), his kind eyes, his friendly smile, his gentle demeanor. 

The butterflies are past Kenma’s stomach. It feels like they’re in his throat.

Later that day, Nekoma loses 1-2 to Fukurodani Academy. Kenma does not see Komori again.

* * *

Kozume Kenma is a second year at Nekoma High School the third time that he meets Komori Motoya. Somehow, it’s already time for the Interhigh Qualifiers, and Nekoma is playing Itachiyama again. After indulging Kuroo in another long-winded rant about how grossly unfair it is to play Itachiyama before the quarter or semi-finals _again_ , Kenma starts formulating the best way to defeat the powerhouse school. 

The current Nekoma roster is nothing to scoff at; Yamamoto is a powerful wing spiker who’s earned his new title of ace, and the newbie, Lev Haiba, makes up in height what he lacks in technical skill, although even saying that internally makes Kenma’s skin crawl a little bit (Lev is very annoying). Yaku is as gritty and dedicated as he’s always been, and Kenma practiced a lot with Kuroo over the summer to refine their setting and blocking skills. All the parts of the ecosystem have come together to make up the formidable defense that Nekoma has always been known for. 

Kenma’s not sure if it’s enough to win the game, but he’s confident that it will not be the same easy win for Itachiyama that it was a year ago. 

Kenma is a straightforward and analytical person. He never gets his hopes up, never rides on false pretenses, and always deals with what’s in front of him.

Yet, he was unprepared for the new Itachiyama; specifically, for the now second-years Komori and Sakusa. 

Playing against Sakusa gives Kenma an overwhelming feeling of dread similar to playing the famous Ushijima from Sendai. Kuroo blocks perfectly and Lev follows directions to a T, but the ball falls over and over in Nekoma’s court nonetheless. On the occasion Kenma is able to set up a hit for Yamamoto, Kai, or Kuroo, Komori digs it effortlessly every time. 

Fucking Komori. Kenma can’t decide if he hates Komori’s talent or if he’s captivated by it.

Coach Nekomata calls a time-out once Itachiyama hits 15 points and Nekoma is trailing with a measly 9. As everyone furiously chugs water, Nekomata gives them a kind smile and then looks over at Kuroo with a pointed look that says, _This is all you, captain_.

Kuroo clears his throat. “Sakusa is a monster, as always, and that libero is a pain in the ass too... but that doesn’t mean their team is undefeatable. Remember, our team is like the blood in our veins. We must flow without stopping. Keep the oxygen flowing, and your mind working.” Kenma has to hand it to Kuroo; he always knows what to say to motivate everyone. The underclassmen look more confident already. 

As the time-out ends, the team starts making their way back to the court and Kenma shoots a glance over at Itachiyama, only to be met with a horrifying realization.

Komori is already staring directly at him. 

Kenma immediately whirls back around, his face immediately flushing beet red. Why does he always feel like this around Komori and why was he looking at Kenma in the first place? And why is he secretly a little happy that Komori was looking at him?

Kuroo sees Kenma in mild distress and shoots him a look, but Kenma intentionally looks away to avoid making eye contact. He definitely can’t let Kuroo see him like this or else it will lead to a barrage of questions later, and if there’s anyone on this planet that Kenma does not want to be interrogated by about his potential crush, it’s his best friend.

_Wait, potential crush? Did those words just slip through my head? About Komori?_

Kenma’s heart feels like it’s about to beat out of his chest. He completely misses the ref blow the whistle to resume the game and nearly gets smacked in the face by the ball, only yanked out of the way thanks to Yamamoto’s quick reaction time.

Kenma can feel Kuroo shoot him another look of concern; it’s out of character for Kenma to be inattentive during a game, but he can’t stop the thoughts barreling through his head at the moment. He still can’t make eye contact with Kuroo.

Nekoma loses the first set to Itachiyama in short order, and then the second. 

Another swift defeat. 

* * *

Kozume Kenma is still a second year at Nekoma High School the fourth time that he meets Komori Motoya. The spring national tournament qualifier is here again. 

“Why do we always play Itachiyama at the Interhigh, but never at Qualifiers?” Kuroo scoffs as he looks over the matches for the day on the bus ride over to the gymnasium. Nekoma is playing Fukurodani again, and Itachiyama will be playing Nohebi Academy. 

“We could play Itachiyama if we actually beat Fukurodani this year,” Kenma says pointedly, eyes still fixed on his video game. “Or have you already resigned yourself to a loss?”

Kuroo abruptly straightens in his seat. “Nope! I can’t wait to block Bo and his stupid cross shots.” 

As the bus pulls into the parking area, Fukunaga pipes up from the front seat, “Look who else just rolled in.” Kenma glances up briefly only to feel his heart jump into his throat. 

It’s Itachiyama, because of course it is. It couldn’t be a school Kenma was indifferent about like Fukurodani or Nohebi. It just had to be the school with one particular person who made Kenma feel extremely nervous. He wants to either stay on the bus permanently or just warp inside the venue. 

Kuroo, ever too observant, has seemingly picked up on Kenma’s tiny change in attitude and eyes him. “You good?” he asks. 

Kenma marinates on this for a second, then decides that this is not the time or place to detail his half-crush to his best friend. “Yep,” he declares, getting up from the aisle seat. “Let’s go, Kuro.” 

As they get off the bus, Tsukasa Iizuna waves Kuroo over. He’s the captain of Itachiyama and is a friendly enough guy, if not a bit emotional at times.

Kuroo stiffens a bit and runs his fingers through his hair. “Gotta take this. Captain duties,” he says to Kenma with a much-too-serious expression on his face.

Kenma stares at him. “Don’t say that ever again...please,” he deadpans. 

Kuroo laughs and reaches to ruffle Kenma’s hair. Kenma retreats before he gets the chance. “Next year, _captain duties_ will be your responsibility, so watch and learn.” 

As Kuroo walks over to meet up with Tsukasa, Kenma notices that Komori is there too, smiling and waving Kuroo over. His chest tightens. He wants to get a chance to introduce himself to Komori, but he doesn’t have the faintest idea how he would do it, and the embarrassment of the bathroom interaction still feels like it just happened, even though it was a year ago. 

Komori is effortlessly friendly. Kenma is deeply envious of that.

Before he can make a decision he might regret, he grabs his gym bag and hurriedly shuffles over to the rest of Nekoma to head inside with them. 

Later that day, Nekoma loses 0-2 to Fukurodani but manages to beat Nohebi 2-0 in the loser’s bracket ( _“It is not a loser’s bracket,”_ Kuroo grumbles), securing them a ticket to Nationals. 

Itachiyama’s bus has already departed by the time that Neko makes it out to the parking lot that evening. 

Kenma can’t decide if he’s relieved or sad. It might be both.

* * *

Kozume Kenma is a third year at Nekoma High School the fifth time that he meets Komori Motoya. Being captain of the volleyball team is worlds different from just participating in it, but mentoring the first years is a unique new challenge for Kenma, and is even fun at times. 

Kenma’s first decision as captain was to appoint Fukunaga as vice captain, and a lot of the administrative responsibilities now fall to him, although he was sure to let Kenma know that making flyers and recruiting new team members was above his pay grade. Kenma’s rebuttal: there is no pay grade on this team, therefore no responsibility is above nor below him. 

Originally, appointing Fukunaga as vice captain was just a way for Kenma to shirk some of the responsibilities of captain that he didn’t like very much, but he had never felt so good about his decision as when he ran into Komori and Sakusa with Fukunaga at the fall inter-high. 

Komori waves excitedly at them both. “Kozume-san, you’re captain now? I wouldn’t expect that from a quiet guy like you!” 

Kenma doesn’t know where to look. He can’t look at Fukunaga. He can’t look at Sakusa. He most certainly can’t look at Komori right now. It would seem staring at the ground is the only option. God, where is Kuroo when you need him? 

Abroad, that’s where Kuroo is. At university in the United States. Thousands of miles away from this hallway encounter. 

“Yeahsomethinglikethat,” Kenma finally mutters as he stares daggers at one of the cracks in the floor of the hallway.

Sakusa side-eyes Komori. “Not every captain shits rainbows like you do,” he deadpans. Kenma doesn’t think that shitting rainbows is such a bad thing if the alternative is being as quiet and sullen as Sakusa is. 

Komori laughs. His laugh is one of the most pure sounds Kenma has ever heard. He feels his ears turning red. 

Fukunaga steps forward and extends his hand to Komori. “I’m the vice captain, Fukunaga Shouhei. I do most of the grunt work around here.” 

Kenma winces. Fukunaga is making him look lame in front of Komori right now, but Kenma doesn’t have the will to refute what he’s saying, especially since he’s not even lying. 

Komori eagerly shakes Fukunaga’s hand and Kenma is suddenly a little bit jealous, even though that could be him; it _should_ be him, even. “I’m Komori Motoya, Itachiyama’s captain! Sakusa here is our vice captain, but he doesn’t do anything. He just thought the title sounded cool.” Komori laughs. 

Sakusa swats at Komori’s arm. “You forced me into this position,” he says, aggravated. 

Kenma looks up for a second only to see Komori grinning sheepishly, which sends Kenma’s heart straight into his mouth. His only option is to look at Fukunaga. Kenma taps his shoulder. 

“Well, we need to go catch up with the rest of the team and start setting up for warmups,” Fukunaga says, somehow reading Kenma’s mind. “Good luck today. Maybe we’ll meet you guys on the court.” 

“See ya!” Komori beams. 

As they walk down the hallway, Fukunaga nudges Kenma. “Man, what was that? Do you have a crush on their libero or something? I’m not used to seeing you so lost for-” 

Kenma stops dead, the heat from his ears now extending across his whole face. He gives Fukunaga a pained look.

Fukunaga stares open-mouthed at Kenma. “Oh, sorry, I…. Jesus man, I didn’t know you were capable of having a crush on anyone. But Komori? Really? You guys are polar opposites.” 

Kenma can’t object. They stare at each other for a second. Fukunaga grins. “I’m telling Kuroo.”

Kenma elbows him. “No _the fuck_ you are not.”

* * *

Kenma is now a university student living in Tokyo. Life has changed a lot since high school, but they’ve all been mostly good changes. 

Kenma is studying business and economics. He’s started streaming video games a few times per week under the username “Kodzuken” to make some extra money and has built up a small but loyal following in the process. He FaceTimes Kuroo a few times a week just to catch up, although the America - Japan time difference can make it a bit hard to coordinate. 

He keeps up with what his friends are doing volleyball-wise, but other than that, it’s in the rear view mirror, which is fine for Kenma. His final year at Nekoma was uneventful and mostly full of losses, but the memories of high school volleyball are still precious to him, especially going to nationals as a second year. 

He does his best to not think about Komori. It’s not like there’s a point to it anymore. He had so many chances to take a step in a positive direction in that regard; 5 whole chances, to be exact, and never did. 

_I could never even tell him my full name_ , Kenma grumbles to himself one particularly lonely morning. 

He’s leaving class later that day when he sees a familiar-looking back in front of him. The hair is slightly longer, but the color is the same brown, and a green and yellow gym bag is slung over the guy’s shoulder. Itachiyama colors.

Kenma feels his heart drop all the way into his feet. He almost feels short of breath. Komori? At his university? 

Kenma doesn’t believe in God, but this is some sort of divine intervention. 

_But how am I supposed to catch up with a guy I never even gave my name to…?_

Kenma’s heart, still in his feet, beats approximately three times as quickly as usual. He was just thinking about Komori this morning. Letting him just walk away is equally as insane as approaching him. 

Without realizing, Kenma follows Komori all the way outside, where he sits on a bench and pulls out his phone. Kenma’s hands grow clammy and his heart is still pounding, but it’s now or never. His university has thousands of students; he could theoretically never see Komori again. 

He walks over to the bench, rehearsing his introduction over and over. _Hey Komori-san, it’s me, Kozume Kenma, from Nekoma High. You guys kicked our ass in high school all the time._

Every word of his introduction flies out of his head like a baby bird falling out of the nest to its death as he gets to the bench. Kenma stands there. In the span of about half a second, his emotions range through every type of shame and embarrassment the human brain is capable of experiencing. 

_Well, I had a good 20 years on this god forsaken planet, but I guess it’s just time for me to fucking die-_

Komori looks up. His eyes widen. “Wow, is that you, Kozume-san? From Nekoma?” 

Kenma feels himself blush, but he’s busted through the bubble of feelings into the bubble of apathy. Why does it matter if he’s blushing? He already stood in front of the bench wordlessly. The threshold for embarrassment has already been reached and surpassed exponentially.

_Wait, Kozume-san?_

Kenma meets Komori’s eyes and is suddenly overwhelmed with the way that the light is hitting them. Everything about Komori’s face is soft and welcoming. 

“You know my name?” Kenma asks, blushing harder. “I was so shy in high school… I don’t think I ever formally introduced myself.”

Komori grins. Kenma’s face is scarlet red. “Your old captain, Kuroo-san, was pretty friendly and never shut up about your _genius_ setting skills, so I figured it out.” Komori shifts a bit. “I really like the way you’ve grown out your hair. It’s pretty.” 

_Pretty._ _Komori called me pretty_. Kenma feels like the butterflies are going to erupt out of his mouth if he speaks. 

The pressing urge to not let the silence get awkwardly long quickly outweighs the butterflies. “Do you want to get lunch sometime? I don’t know many people from high school that went to this university,” Kenma blurts out before he realizes what he’s saying. 

Komori grins from ear to ear. “I’d love that. I’m free right now, if you’d like. I don’t have class again until six.” 

Kenma can hardly hear what Komori is saying over the sound of his heart pounding in his ears. “Sure,” he says tentatively, “I’d really like that.” 

“Off we go, then,” Komori chirps as he jumps up from the bench, grabbing his gym bag. 

They walk towards the cafeteria. Kenma gnaws on his lip to keep from smiling. 

Kenma is in his first year of university the sixth time he meets Komori Motoya. In the moment, it feels like everything.

**Author's Note:**

> The most rare of rarepairs, because Komori deserves everything. 
> 
> I wanted to write something for Kenma Ship Week and my Komori brain rot forced me to include him in some way.... and here we are. 
> 
> Thanks so much to Teddy and Nolan for beta reading this! <3


End file.
